Broken Rules
by kate04us
Summary: Set during Season 7 of The Closer - Sharon has a bad day. Sharon also has rules. She forgets about both when she runs into Andy after work.


**Broken Rules**

by Kate04

 **A/N:** My dear beta **NarcissaNerea** complained about her sad and empty inbox, so I told her to give me a prompt. She did, and she beta'd it, too, because she's amazing. If you find any abandoned mistakes, you have my permission to pick them up and donate them or something.

 **Disclaimer:** Not my sandbox, not my toys, but oh my god do I wish they were!

Her first thought upon waking up was that she was warm. Not the uncomfortable kind of warm that was more and more frequently becoming a part of her days and nights, but rather the cozy feeling of combined body heat in a nest of blankets. Her face was pressed against a bare chest, wiry hairs tickling her nose, and a pleasantly musky, decidedly masculine scent filling her nostrils. It took her a moment to recall the events that had led to her present situation, as she was not used to awakening wrapped in someone's arms. Not anymore. Not since she had last allowed Jack to share her bed over a decade ago.

Since then, she had not lived the life of a nun. There had been several discrete affairs, but she had never allowed herself to actually sleep with someone who was not her husband. There had been sex, because she was only human, and even when Jack came home, he never stayed long enough anymore for her to get over her disappointment and hurt feelings. These days, he was always gone before she reached that point where she wanted to take him to her bed again, so she found her release elsewhere. It was never more than a little fun, the brief scratching of an itch, a distraction from her everyday life. She never took these dalliances into her own home, and she always left when they were done. Sex was something she could justify to herself. Sleeping in the presence of another man, however, went a step too far towards intimacy.

Apparently, she had broken her own rule for some reason, and with none other than Andy Flynn. That was another rule broken right there. Sleeping with a coworker was just as high up on the list of things she did not do as spending the night with a man she was not married to. And she wasn't even able to blame too much alcohol for what had happened. As far as she recalled – and her memory of the previous night was only too vivid – there had been two glasses of wine, which she hadn't even finished. She would blame Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson and Peter Goldman, and probably acting Chief Pope, and the whole damn lawsuit that was consuming too much of her time.

 _It had only been the latest in a seemingly endless row of long days. Aside from taking care of the usual administrative tasks involved in running a division, her people's evaluations had been due a couple of days ago, which had resulted in several very late nights. Under normal circumstances, Sharon had those done with lots of time to spare, but lately, most of her hours were spent chasing down members of Major Crimes in order to complete her audit of that division to the Interim Chief's satisfaction. When Pope had taken over after Chief Delk's untimely death, Sharon had expected him to accept the results of her initial audit and declare the matter over. Instead, he had accused her of not giving enough attention to the task and ordered her to do it again. And of course he had refused to let Chief Johnson know that it was his idea, knowing full well that Sharon was, by law, not allowed to disclose that information. As a result, Brenda and her team did their best to sabotage her efforts. It had taken her the better part of a week to get everyone to sit down with her for individual interviews. It was like herding cats, and Brenda was the worst of the lot. It had taken two days to finally get the other woman to answer all her questions. In the end, Sharon had to drag Brenda across town and walk her through Tyrell Baylor's last minutes step by step in order to get her to even consider hiring her own lawyer. She wondered why she even bothered when the other woman clearly didn't care about her professional or personal future. Sharon didn't think that she had ever met a more single-minded person than Brenda Leigh Johnson. The woman was exclusively focused on whatever case she was currently working and dismissed anything that didn't directly contribute to solving it. If it weren't so frustrating, she might admire the Deputy Chief's dedication, but at the moment she was more tempted to shake her. At least Sharon was reasonably confident that the necessity for a lawyer had finally sunk in and that Brenda would stop making light of the lawsuit. Maybe she would even start realizing that Sharon was only trying to help her and her team, but she wasn't going to hold her breath on that one. All she could hope for was that she would be able to finish this audit before she lost her mind._

 _With her end of the month work done and a somewhat successful conclusion to at least one part of her audit, Sharon had decided to treat herself to a glass of wine with one of her oldest friends. If she managed to convince Gavin to take on Brenda Leigh as a client, that would only be a convenient byproduct of their evening together. It had been a while since they had managed to get together. When he had to leave before they even finished their first drink, she was disappointed and ready to call it a day as well – just as soon as she finished her wine and paid their bill. That was when Andy Flynn had, quite literally, bumped into her._

 _The place was crowded, and Andy was making his way from the table he and a couple of friends had occupied to the bar. His friends had gotten a little too involved in each other for his taste, and he decided to give them some privacy. To be honest, he was getting sick of watching those two being all over each other. It only made him feel worse, which was quite an accomplishment, considering that he had wanted to go out to take his mind off of their latest case. He had hoped that his friend would be able to distract him. Instead, he had spent the last hour staring at his cranberry and soda while his inebriated buddy was making out with his girlfriend. When he got up to leave them alone, his plan was to finish his drink at the bar and then get the hell out of there and go home. Some drunk idiots were dancing a little too exuberantly and pushed him against one of the occupied bar stools. He only narrowly avoided spilling his drink over the woman he bumped into._

 _With one hand on the back of her chair to keep himself upright, his apology got stuck in his throat for a moment when he came face to face with a very familiar set of annoyed, green eyes. Just his luck that he would run into Sharon Raydor while he was trying so hard_ not _to think of work._

" _I'm sorry, Captain. I didn't mean to –"_

 _She had turned around to face him, her expression relaxing into a slightly friendlier one when she saw what had caused the disturbance and who had violated her personal space._

" _Don't worry about it, Lieutenant," she interrupted his apology, giving him a small smile._

 _Looking behind him, Sharon tried to figure out if he was alone. When she didn't see anyone who seemed to be with him, she gestured to the empty barstool next to her. "This seat is free if you're looking for somewhere a little safer to have your drink."  
_

 _Hearing herself utter those words was a surprise, and she had no idea why she had thought it was a good idea to ask him to join her, apart from her sometimes inconvenient tendency to be polite. She didn't actually expect him to take her up on her offer, and when he did, she had a brief moment of panic at the thought of an awkward, stilted conversation with a man who barely tolerated her. When he settled into the chair and stared at his drink, a forlorn expression on his face, her anxiety gave way to concern. It wasn't hard to guess why he was feeling so bad. Sharon had been in and out of Major Crimes' Murder Room often enough in the last couple of days to have at least the basic details of their latest case._

" _Do you want to talk about it?" she asked, keeping her own eyes fixed on her wine while she waited for his response._

 _There was a long pause during which they both sipped their drinks before Andy sighed and began to speak._

" _I've seen a lot of scumbags do a lot of crazy things, and you kinda get used to it, you know?" At her small hum of understanding he continued. "But this time…" Andy shook his head. "He killed his own son because he got tired of paying child support for a kid that he didn't think liked him enough. What kind of father does that?"_

 _It was an unbearable thought, and Sharon felt anger burn in her stomach. Parents were supposed to love and protect their children. Despite having seen more than enough cases of neglect of or violence against children, it never ceased to shock her that people were capable of such atrocious acts. Her own husband had a history of repeatedly abandoning his kids, but he would never lay a hand on them. Even when his drinking was at its worst, he had never been violent._

" _A bad one," she supplied, painfully aware that that didn't even begin to cover it._

 _Andy snorted derisively. "_ I _am a bad father. This asshole… I don't even know what to call him."_

 _Reaching over, Sharon briefly laid her hand on his arm in a comforting touch. "You're not a bad father, Andy. Far from it."_

 _She knew enough about him and his history to be confident that her words were true. He had made mistakes, but for the last fifteen years he had tried his best to make amends. And even while he was lost in his addiction, he had paid alimony and child support. That was more than could be said about a lot of other fathers, her husband included._

 _Andy simply grunted, unconvinced, as he lifted the glass to his lips. After another long moment of companionable silence, he turned towards Sharon, for the first time taking in the black dress that was slightly shorter than she wore at work, the softer makeup, and the slight curl that she had given her hair. It wasn't the first time that he noticed that she was an attractive woman, but he couldn't recall ever having seen her like this. At work, she was dressed more conservatively, and she looked a lot less approachable. The few times he had met her outside of work had been many years ago, when he had been friends of sorts with Jack. On those rare occasions, she wore jeans and a casual shirt. Sharon Raydor dressed for an evening out was an entirely different thing, though. She was stunning, and if he hadn't known her, he might have tried his luck with her. Or maybe he wouldn't have. She was very different from the women he usually dated. Older, for one, but she also exuded a lot more strength and confidence. She didn't seem to need anyone's attention. She struck him as someone who would make it known if she wanted to be wooed. Since he had no intention to get shot down, he decided not to take the risk, even though he was definitely interested at that very moment._

" _So," he began carefully, keeping an eye on her to see if he was being too nosy. "You look like you're waiting for someone."_

 _Sharon snorted and threw him an amused look. "No, I was just dumped for someone who paid better."_

 _She outright laughed at him when he choked on his drink, his eyes wide as he coughed and wheezed. When he finally got himself back under control, she decided to put him out of his misery. "Gavin. He got a call from a client and had to leave to take care of her."_

" _I'm sorry," he replied, a lopsided grin tugging at his lips at her joke._

 _Sharon shrugged. "It's okay. Usually, it's the other way around. I suppose I had it coming for all the times I left him with the check to deal with some grumpy Lieutenant."_

 _He gave her a playful glare, but it held no power as he struggled to suppress his laughter. "Yeah, our jobs don't really make us the best friends, do they?"_

 _The snort that escaped her before she could suppress it made him grin outright. It was an entirely unexpected sound coming from someone as restrained as the woman next to him. It startled him, this sudden fascination he had with her. He felt a strange need to get to know her better, not as the somewhat fearsome Captain of FID, but as a woman, away from the constraints of their jobs and the necessity of professional boundaries. He studied her out of the corner of his eye as they sipped their drinks in silence. Her index finger was drawing slow, nonsensical patterns on the worn surface of the bar, dragging through a small puddle of water again and again. He wasn't sure if she even noticed what she was doing, but there was something sensual about the action, especially combined with the way her body swayed to the music. She had the corner of her lower lip tucked away between her teeth, and there was a faraway look in her eyes as she stared into the distance. Andy struggled to keep his mind from wandering down dangerous paths as he watched her. Something about her spoke to a primitive part within him, stoking a fire that he hadn't felt in a while. He was sure that she would slap him if she knew how desperately he wanted to run his hands up her smooth, pale thighs, and he was glad that she was too preoccupied with whatever was going on inside her head to pay much attention to him or she might see right through him. She always struck him as someone very adept at reading minds. And yet, despite his very real fear that she might figure out just how interested he was, he heard himself ask the question he had been trying to keep down for the last ten minutes._

" _Would you like to dance?"_

 _Her head snapped around and she fixed him with a wide-eyed look, the glass that had been on the way to her lips being placed very deliberately back on the bar. For a split second he wished that he could snatch the words back from the space between them and shove them down his throat again. He fully expected her to launch into a long lecture about appropriate behavior towards superior officers and the dangers of fraternization, and maybe she considered doing that for a moment. Then she tilted her head to the side, pursed her lips, and studied him through narrowed eyes, and he wondered what she was trying to find in the depth of his unwavering gaze. It cost him not to flinch under her intense scrutiny, but it paid off when she finally turned towards him and offered him her hand as she slid off the bar stool._

" _As a matter of fact, I would love to dance, Lieutenant," she responded, a soft smile gracing her lips._

 _He had caught her off guard with his request for a dance. She was still operating on the assumption that he didn't care much for her, and it took a while for her brain to catch up. Her first instinct had been to take it as a bad joke, as a way for him to make fun of her, however his expression was genuine and just a little bit vulnerable. She didn't think he had planned to ask her, but the way he looked at her spoke of an honest interest in spending time with her. Sharon didn't know what to make of it, but she realized that she would like to find out what Lieutenant Flynn was like in a more personal context._

 _A small shiver of anticipation went through her as one of his large hands curled around hers. He guided her through the mass of heaving bodies to the far side of the dance floor where there was a little more room. He drew her towards him, close enough not to be awkward, but with enough space between their bodies to account for the fact that they hardly knew one another. His free hand was placed respectfully below her shoulder blades, his hold on her secure as he began to lead her into their first dance._

 _The music was an eclectic mix of different styles, some easier to dance to than others, but neither Sharon nor Andy seemed inclined to stop after the first song. They kept going, struggling through some of the faster paced numbers, laughing as they tried to keep up, their carefully maintained, appropriate distance slowly disappearing. When the music slowed down, it only seemed natural for her to step even closer, one hand resting against his chest, still cradled in his, the other sliding around the back of his neck. His cheek was slightly scratchy with a day's worth of beard where it touched her temple, and she subtly turned her face into that tempting spot right at his collar, where the scent of his skin mixed with the last stubborn traces of his cologne. It was thrilling to feel his solid body move against hers, her breasts pressed against his broad chest, his strong thigh sliding between hers with every step they took._

 _It hadn't been_ that _long since she had last been with a man. Definitely not long enough to warrant this unexpected surge of desire, but that was exactly what she was feeling. She wanted to see what it would be like to be alone with him, to run her hands over his bare skin, to kiss him, to feel his lips and hands all over her body. She wanted him and, judging from the insistent nudge of his semi hard on against her belly, he wouldn't be entirely against the idea. There was a tiny voice in the back of her head that tried to remind her about the many reasons why she never slept with coworkers, but the longer they danced, the easier it was to ignore those objections. It was around the time that his lips found that sensitive spot below her right ear that the last shreds of resolve vanished completely and she surrendered with a soft moan._

Sharon only had vague memories of how they had made it to his place. She had kissed him on the dance floor, that much she remembered vividly. Somehow they had managed to pay for their drinks and find their way to his car, stopping again and again to kiss. When they had stumbled against somebody's car, hands and mouths too eager to explore for them to pay any attention to where they were going, a shrill alarm had cut through the night air, sending both of them sprinting the short distance to Andy's run down sedan, hands clasped and laughing. She recalled the heated, breathless kiss they shared once they were inside, hidden away from curious eyes.

The drive to his house had been seemingly endless, and as soon as they had stepped through the front door, clothes had started to fall this and that way, aided by frantic fingers. The first time had been right there, in the dark foyer, against the wall next to the door. It had been hard and fast, and neither one of them had bothered to be quiet. Then he had started carrying her to the bedroom, her arms and legs still wrapped around him. They had made it as far as the dining room table where he had deposited her before he had knelt in front of her and promptly devoured her, his lips, and tongue, and fingers pushing her over the edge twice more, before she had begged for mercy.

She'd had a hard time walking down the hallway towards his bedroom, her legs wobbly and her heart still pounding wildly. Andy's smug grin had bugged her, but she had been realistic enough to realize that she wouldn't be able to take care of that for a little while. They had collapsed on the bed in a tangle of sweaty limbs and dozed off before either of them had been able to consider the wisdom of such intimacy.

Sharon had woken up before him, giving no more than a fleeting thought to a hasty and undetected retreat. There had been the matter of Andy's smugness that she wanted to address. Some things, in her experience, should not be ignored. It had been her turn to feel self-satisfied when he had awoken to her hand cradling his balls and his rapidly swelling dick in her mouth. She had wound him up and backed him off the edge several times before she had straddled his hips, taken him inside her, and ridden him hard until they had both found their release.

She hadn't meant to fall asleep again. He had wrapped his arms around her and drawn her down until she rested on top of him, her head on his shoulder and her legs tangled with his. It was supposed to be no more than a few minutes to bask in the afterglow. She'd had every intention of finding her clothes, giving him a quick kiss and a thank you, and get a taxi to take her back to her car. That was usually how these things went for her.

Maybe it was the unusually enthusiastic sex that had worn her out, or maybe it was the fact that it felt strangely good to be held by him. She wasn't usually one to cuddle. She got restless too quickly, felt restrained by overly clingy partners. For some reason, it was different with Andy. His affectionate nature didn't feel oppressive or presumptuous. He simply seemed to enjoy being close to her without any expectations beyond sharing the present moment.

That moment had come and gone a while ago, however. It was time for their little escape from reality to end. For a moment, Sharon considered trying to sneak out without waking him in order to avoid any possible awkwardness, but she realized that they needed to acknowledge what had happened between them and how they would deal with it come Monday morning, when she was back to being an overpaid hall monitor, annoying the crap out of him and his division.

The fingers of her right hand drew lazy patterns on his chest, idly playing with his salt and pepper chest hair until he slowly started to stir. His arms tightened around her, and he turned his face into her hair, drawing a deep breath and releasing it with a long, tired growl. She stifled the laughter that was bubbling up inside her by pressing her lips against the warm skin of his neck, her own arms holding him closer for a few seconds. Then she carefully disentangled herself from him and sat up, one hand braced against the mattress next to him, the other still lingering on his slightly rounded belly.

He looked sleepy and tousled, his tired eyes squinting to focus on her in the dark room. It was hard not to run her hands through his hair to try and return the wayward strands to some semblance of order, and even harder not to snuggle back into that comfortable spot right next to him, but she clung to that shred of common sense that told her to leave before it was too late.

"I should go home," she said, her voice husky from sleep.

A barely awake Andy was adorable, she noticed. He frowned slightly, blinking a few times until her words made it through the residual fog of sleep. His lips turned down into an almost pout and he sighed heavily. Sharon couldn't resist leaning down to brush a soft, lingering kiss against his mouth, her eyes closing for a brief moment as his tongue sought out hers. When she drew back, one of his hands slipped behind her head, sneaking into the thick curtain of her hair and pulled her back down for another quick kiss before he finally let her go.

"I had a good time tonight."

Her soft smile and the low, sensual tone of her voice made Andy wish that he could convince her to stay a little longer. She had surprised him with her unbridled passion, and he wouldn't mind spending more time exploring that. He had always taken her for a cold, repressed, and somewhat sad person. Frigid was what her husband used to call her back when they still got drunk together, but Andy knew now that nothing could be farther from the truth. She honestly loved sex, and he found that endlessly attractive.

"So did I," he responded, opening his mouth to continue when she stopped him with another sweet kiss.

Maybe she had seen in his eyes, in the way that he looked at her, that he wanted to suggest they do it again sometime. It was a line he often used at the end of nights like these, but this time he actually meant it. He would love to keep doing this, if for no other reason than the fact that they were pretty damn great together. The slight shake of her head and the sad expression on her face kept him quiet even when her lips left his.

She was right, of course. They worked together, more or less. He had no idea where that whole audit business was leading, but it probably wouldn't help if they complicated it with an affair. And then there was the rumor mill at work. They would probably succeed in keeping their one night stand secret, but a regular thing would be much harder to hide, and the last thing either one of them needed was half the building speculating about their relationship.

He gave her a smile and a nod, caressing her cheek with the backs of his fingers. If this was the only time he'd see her like this, he wanted to remember every little nuance. He imagined that there would be a few difficult moments in his immediate future, when she would stand in front of him at work and the tone of her voice or a glimpse of the soft skin of her legs would trigger a memory, but it would be worth it. Sharon Raydor was a woman worth remembering.

"Do you want me to drive you home?"

She let her hand slowly travel up his chest and down his arm until her fingers curled around his, giving them a quick, grateful squeeze.

"Thank you, but you don't need to do that. I'll call a cab to take me back to my car. You should get some more sleep."

He laughed at her wink and the clear insinuation that she had worn him out, and she most definitely wasn't wrong about that.

"Are you sure?"

He hated the idea of her being out there at this time of night and would feel much better if he were able to make sure she got home safely. Her eye roll and the indulgent smile she gave him told him exactly what she thought of his macho tendencies even though she decided not to voice those thoughts explicitly.

"Andy, I appreciate your concern, but I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself, I promise."

Throwing his hands up in surrender, Andy crawled out of bed, struggling into a pair of striped pajama pants that he found on the floor. He followed Sharon into the foyer, where she picked up the clothes they had so carelessly discarded earlier. She sorted through the messy pile, putting on what was hers and handing him the rest. The hallway was only dimly lit by the streetlights that shone through the window next to the front door, and he felt a little lost standing there, bare-chested and with an arm full of laundry. He wanted to say something clever, something to make her laugh, but his mind was blank. All he could do was watch her get dressed.

When she was put together again as much as possible after half a night of sex, she closed the distance between them, put both hands on his chest, and looked up at him, her lower lip caught between her teeth.

"This is not going to make things awkward at work, is it?" she asked, concern evident in her voice and her wide-eye expression.

Andy let the hand that was not holding on to his clothes run through her hair, tucking a wayward strand behind her ear. He cupped her cheek and gave her a mischievous grin.

"Nah. We'll be okay. We had a fun night, but it's not gonna change who we are at work. We'll still annoy the hell out of each other, only now we'll know what the other one looks like naked. Don't worry about it, okay?"

"Okay," she agreed as she stepped even closer, wrapping her arms around him. Andy dropped the clothes he was holding to return the embrace, his nose buried in her hair and his hands stroking up and down her back. Before they could cross the line into too much tenderness, Sharon stepped back and kissed him one last time. It was short and sweet, a clear goodbye before she grabbed her purse off the small hallway table and turned to leave.

Before she could step through the open door, Andy reached out to grasp her arm gently, prompting her to face him once more. He ignored her slightly exasperated expression, letting his hand slide down her arm until he took hold of her hand.

"Thank you for tonight, Sharon."

His heartfelt words clearly startled her at first, but then she squeezed his hand and gave him a bright smile that made her eyes sparkle, and he had no choice but to return it.

"And thank _you_ , Andy."

They stared at one another for another brief moment, before Sharon finally left. He watched her walk down his driveway and climb into the waiting cab that he had not noticed her ordering. Once the car vanished around the corner, Andy closed the door and leaned against it, still smiling. They had both gone out tonight searching for a way to forget their crappy days, and, in each other, they had found exactly what they had needed. It was unexpected and, had anyone asked him that morning, damn unlikely, but they had been perfect together. It was not meant to last for more than a night, and really, the thought of them being in a relationship was ridiculous, but he would cherish this one night for a very long time. Something told him that the same was true for Sharon.

 **~FIN~**


End file.
